<p>Im looking into Penn State and Virginia Tech for civil engineering. These 2 are recognized as great engineering schools. I love PItt though and people keep telling me that there engineering program has come a long way. would it but me behind or disadvantage at all by going to Pitt(no bias please)? convince me that i should go to pitt rather than one of those for engineering</p>
<p>pitt eng is not up to par with other two schools, except bio medical. i will advise against, especially if you want a job right after graduation.</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s friends turned down Cornell and Carnegie Mellon for Pitt (electrical) engineering and has been quite happy. And if you are a great student, Pitt gives lots of merit money. :)</p>
<p>thats what im worried about itsme123</p>
<p>Va Tech is number 9 in the country for Civil in USNWR. Yes it’s possible to go to Pitt and be successful, but when you are looking for your first job, you will be more attractive to employers if you come from a top ranked university. If you plan to get a Masters, then a school like Pitt might make sense. However if a Bachelors is your terminal degree, it is better to go with the other two unless finances make the difference (you get scholarship from Pitt)</p>
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<p>You’ve got a couple of things to consider:</p>
<p>1- What schools do you REALLY love. I mean, you love the campus, the feel of the school, the entire academic setting, the location, the professors. There’s a LOT more to a school than a ranking. </p>
<p>2- Just because you go to a great school, doesn’t mean you’ll get a job when you graduate. A lot of getting a job is about a few key things:</p>
<p>A: maintaining a good (>3.0) to great (>3.5) GPA during college
B: Networking (professors, career fairs, family friends, etc.)
C: Summer opportunities (internship, co-op)</p>
<p>and not so much D: the school you went to.</p>
<p>I had a lot of friends graduate from Pitt Engineering this year. Many went on either to great grad programs (at Pitt or elsewhere) or have begun/will soon begin their engineering jobs. I don’t know of people who had difficultly finding a job. My sister said her fellow classmates who graduated from UVA (also well known Engineering school) were having many issues finding jobs (in multiple Engineering majors)- some had to turn to grad school or alternative jobs (teach for america, ex.) as a last resort to not being able to find a “company” job.</p>
<p>My point is: the name of the school shouldn’t determine where you go. By all means, apply to a bunch of places, but make sure you take the time to visit the schools, talk to students, get a look at classes and professors, check out the department, see what the courseload would be like, etc. before turning down a school that you think is “beneath” you.</p>
<p>And by the way, this advice comes from a person who turned down VTech, Georgia Tech, CMU, and Case Western to go to Pitt for Engineering.</p>
<p>awesomeoppossum what kind of engineering were you and your friends in</p>
<p>My sister was an Aerospace Engineer, her friends were ChemE, BioE, MechE. (She said the only ones who didn’t really had problems were the Systems Engineering kids at her school).</p>
<p>My friends at Pitt that I know got jobs are Materials Sciene and MechE. Although I have friends in my graduating class (this one) in every single department.</p>
<p>I do Materials Science, Nuclear, and Ferrous Metallurgy (Steel) at Pitt.</p>
<p>so if i wanted to pursue a masters degree why would it not be a disadvantage to go to pitt but if im just getting my bachelors it is?</p>
<p>Ultimately the question is what can you/your family can afford? I would not get hung up on rankings/prestige, there are Ivy league graduates who can’t find jobs. Go to the school you like and can afford. School loans stay with you until you pay them off.</p>
<p>In answer to your last question - to take an extreme example: going to undergrad and Pitt followed by Grad school at MIT or UIUC is better than the reverse. Employers look at your most recent experience/college. Also where you went to school mostly affects your first job only. As you progress in your career, where you went to college really makes no difference - it’s the work experience you gain which is more important.</p>
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<p>This is essential advice that is the key to picking a college.</p>
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<p>This is true. If you like Pittsburgh/want to get a job around here when you graduate, then you’d definitely be fine going to Pitt, a lot of the companies know and love Pitt engineers just as much as CMU engineers/etc. Also this goes back to the idea of NETWORKING and Summer Experiences. Like people have said, the school isn’t everything, it’s about what you do while you’re there. (Otherwise people would only go to Ivies and what not and the other colleges would have no students!)</p>
<p>i just dont wanna feel like im going somewhere when i oculd be going to better</p>
<p>You should not go to Pitt. You will never feel as though it is good enough.</p>
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<p>What would you consider better? A ranked school? The best school? At what point is “good” good enough? I’m always amazed by people who think the best college experience is the one at the “best” ranked college. As many people have said in this discussion, you need to take more than one factor (rank) into account. If all you’re going to do is go to the highest rank school you can, then yeah, don’t go to Pitt like MD Mom said. It’s clearly not for you, since you’re not interested in everything else we have to offer here.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound bitter or rude, but as a very proud Pitt Engineering student, and as someone who has turned down top-10 engineering schools, I’m always trying to show people the benefits of attending a school they wouldn’t initially consider. And I’m always amazed at people who fail to open their eyes to the opportunities that can be provided at these “lesser” schools.</p>
<p>no offense to you or anything im just trying to put myself in the BEST possoble position for after college.</p>
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<p>I get that, but you’ve got 4 years of college ahead of you, and you never know how your plans are going to change. Mine changed, drastically, twice, in the 3 years I’ve been in college so far. You don’t know yet whether you want to get a job after your undergrad, go to grad school for a masters/phd, if you want to teach, etc. So aiming for rank in undergrad is kind of a gamble (especially if you’re taking out a bunch of loans/etc to pay for it). I think that’s what a lot of us are trying to warn you about-- you don’t know what your life or goals will be like 4 years from now (heck, you may transfer out of engineering) so don’t put too much emphasis on that far into the future.</p>
<p>so say i do want to go to grad school. i am pretty sure i wanna get masters in civil</p>
<p>In general, on the Pitt threads, posters don’t try to talk people into going to Pitt. Students who are there (and in my case a parent with a child there) know what a great school it is. Many, many Pitt students chose it over much more prestigious and higher ranking schools, and those students are being challenged. Pitt also draws the kind of student who realizes that education is what you put into it and often those students are not blinded by the glare of rankings and branding. The schools you are considering have very different environments. You should look at them, apply to the ones you like, and attend the one where you are accepted and like the best.</p>
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<p>Go to a school you like and can afford for undergrad. The more you can do without taking out loans, the better. Try to get into research early on, and maintain a position in research throughout your undergrad career. Maintain a good relationship with 2-3 professors that would be able to write you great rec letters for grad school. Maintain a good-great GPA (min >3.0, best if >3.5). Starting around junior year, start looking into schools well known for their masters/phd programs in civil engineering. Your advisor will help you with picking good schools that are a good fit for you. </p>
<p>Study for and take your GREs (I really recommend you take them by the summer before senior year). Based on your scores at that point, you can narrow down what schools to apply to. Write your personal statement in the summer or early fall of senior year. Contact those professors from whom you want rec letters. Send in everything to the schools as EARLY as possible. The great thing about engineering grad school is that, if you’ve done everything correctly, you shouldn’t have to pay to attend it. Most grad students who attend are going with scholarships and fellowship/TA money (that is, the school will pay their tuition/pay the student if the student agrees to TA or teach or do some additional research).</p>